3 minute read
Sonic frontiers review
good time to be a sonic fan
review by Tristen Cortez
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Since the last year or so, I’ve found myself falling into the Sonic rabbit hole. Who can blame me? It’s like the damn hedgehog is everywhere. He’s got two movies, a niche but successful ongoing comic strip, an upcoming animated series, spin-off shows in development at Paramount+, a third movie on the way, and an online memetic presence that has pervaded in an irony-based generation.
It’s all been just dandy, unless you were a fan of the games. Ironically enough, Sonic’s games have been its weakest point. Following the maligned titles of the “dark age” from the 2000s, along with the mediocre reception of Forces and Origins, it seems like giving the property over to a different group of developers entirely might fix things (well... assuming it went so well last time they tried that in 2014).
Sonic Frontiers felt like the last chance this series had to redeem itself and show some signs that Sonic the Hedgehog could be cool, fun, and non-glitchy. The hype, while a bit stressful, was indeed palpable. I was excited and nervous for this game unlike any game previously.
Loading in on my first playthrough, we get some cutscenes that show a change of pace. The characters are a bit less goofy, the plot seems to be aiming for something actually dramatic and interesting.20
And then, bam! You’re in Green Hill Zone. Or a weird cyber-corrupted version of it. This is Cyberspace, one of Sonic Frontier’s gimmicks. The first thing I noticed right off the cuff was just how insane this music went. There’s no other way to describe it; a mix of techno 2000s Drum N’ Bass with club trance practically ready to break my bassy speakers. I was enthralled. While the controls were awkward at first, this game had hooked me. The presentation, the style, the effort! This isn’t the Sonic you knew from a decade ago.
Journeying through the Starfall islands, uncovering the story, I was met with issues. My playthrough, while not buggy, was far from perfect. Some issue on Steam’s end kept causing crashes at one point, nearly prompting me to uninstall the game and try later, until finally it worked properly. From there, it got smoother. My initial experience, while occasionally grating, with some design choices that left me saying, “Oh, I would have done this differently,” soon became more appealing.
After beating Giganto, I felt a rush I hadn’t felt in a while. That first boss tells you that it’s going down, and you better bring it. Admittedly, the game isn’t very difficult at all, and the puzzles are child’s play. However, nothing quite matched the exhiliration I felt when I was going puzzle-to-puzzle bolting through Ares island while the beautiful sunset awaited me. When Sonic Frontiers is fun, it is so much fun, and provides a thrill you won’t find in many other places.
Story-wise, I was equally compelled. It’s not The Last of Us, but newcomers to the series might be surprised at the level of depth and care put into the dialogue. It’s a far cry from the awkward days of infamous line reads like, “Watch out! You’re gonna crash! Ah!”. If it weren’t for the admittedly not-too-impressive animation in some cutscenes (likely a result of having a development team totaling 60 people), I would have been tricked into thinking I was watching a feature-length film.
The characters are at their most entertaining and engaging here. The game uses a neat setup story-wise involving Amy, Knuckles, and Tails having their own “koco” (a cute island creature that totally doesn’t have serious lore implications), and these koco help symbolize each characters motivations and emotions. Tails’ koco for example is a pilot in the shadow of his idol who wants to prove himself, leading to a conversation between Sonic and Tails regarding their friendship that nearly had me misty-eyed.
It shows the kind of results you’ll get when you actually allow your audience to care about the characters they’ve invested so much time into. The game introduces new ones, like Sage who has already left a huge impact on me. While far from perfect, and definitely in need of some refinement, Sonic Frontiers is the return to form people have been waiting for. For the first time in a long time, I can confidently recommend you pick up this game if you want to experience a good Sonic game. 21